The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 22, 2017
Filed:
May. 15, 2014
Elwha Llc, Bellevue, WA (US);
Jeffrey A. Bowers, Bellevue, WA (US);
Paul Duesterhoft, Issaquah, WA (US);
Daniel Hawkins, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Roderick A. Hyde, Redmond, WA (US);
Edward K. Y. Jung, Las Vegas, NV (US);
Jordin T. Kare, Seattle, WA (US);
Eric C. Leuthardt, St. Louis, MO (US);
Nathan P. Myhrvold, Bellevue, WA (US);
Michael A. Smith, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Clarence T. Tegreene, Mercer Island, WA (US);
Lowell L. Wood, Jr., Bellevue, WA (US);
ELWHA LLC, Bellevue, WA (US);
Abstract
An acoustic transducer system for ultrasonic imaging may include an array of sub-wavelength ultrasonic transducer elements; at least one electromagnetically resonant element with an electromagnetic resonance within the electromagnetic frequency band coupled to each of the sub-wavelength ultrasonic transducer elements; at least one electromagnetically resonant element with an electromagnetic resonance within the electromagnetic frequency band coupled to each of the sub wavelength ultrasonic transducer elements; an electromagnetic transmission module configured to modify one or more characteristics of transmitted electromagnetic energy to effectuate an acoustic emission by the array of sub-wavelength transducer elements according to an acoustic transmission pattern corresponding to the respective electromagnetic resonance characteristics of at least some of the electromagnetically resonant elements coupled to the sub-wavelength ultrasonic transducer elements; and a common port configured to facilitate electromagnetic communication with each of the electromagnetically resonant elements coupled to the sub-wavelength transducer elements.